When you're so busy it's embarrassing.

Guys, I’ve been busy. I’ve been so busy it’s actually embarrassing. I know one thing I write about most often is managing the stress that comes with managing everything else in life.

Why?

Because society, work culture, the mainstream mindset says to be successful, you’ve gotta be so busy it’s embarrassing.

And, no, I’m not going to go off on how we should be doing less to do more.

You know your life. You know what’s negotiable and what’s not. Just like I know my life and what’s negotiable and what’s not. The past two weeks, certain things that are generally non-negotiable were placed so far on the back burner they weren’t even topics of conversation.

So I had to deal.

I could beat myself up over everything; for not going through with my plan of logging the move across country, for being behind on this blog and You Moved Where, for not having a picture perfect house a week after moving. I could be upset about it all. Or, I could look back and be victorious over what I did accomplish this week.

I started implementing practices to be successful doing my 9-5 fully remote.

I moved into my dream house. I picked up working out after a 10 day break (my longest break in over 2 years).

I maintained the core pieces of my life while uprooting my entire life.

And I was able to do that because I know my bending points vs. my breaking points.

It’s all about flexibility, give and take, and managing the uncertainty in the inbetweens. Having the strength, courage, self-knowledge, and compassion to understand what’s going on.

Okay, so time is a limitation right?

We all have only so many hours in the day, and it seems like sometimes, things just pile on yet nothing ever moves to make way. Of course one of the natural responses is to just sleep a little less. In fact last Friday, I was up until 5am. After waking up at 6am the morning before. I got about 2 hours of sleep then went on with my Saturday insanity last week. I got the essential done, but anything that did not need to absolutely happen that day? Ha.

Say it with me.

I only have so much time, and that’s okay.

I’ve been back at work this week. While simultaneously unpacking and trying to get the house in order. Today at 4:30, I physically could not keep my eyes open. It’s not just physical exertion, it’s emotional too. Moving takes a toll. The 9-5 takes a toll. Being a human with friends and a family takes its toll.

Say it with me.

I only have so much energy, and that’s okay.

So often, we get hung up in everything we need to do, the things that loom over, that the anxiety or general feelings about it all, build up and stop us from doing anything. We freeze because things don’t feel great. And that just builds up to more negative feelings. Making us stuck. Unable to move. Desperately wanting to.

“I only have so much energy, but there are so many things that need to be done” feels quite a bit different than “I only have so much energy, and that’s okay”, doesn’t it? Acknowledging the situation, giving it space to exist, without compounding into more stress gives you the flexibility to manage the situation and feelings that come with the situation.

Being flexible, and bending when life comes at you, lets you avoid the paralyzing frustration that so many overachievers feel when even the idea of not doing enough comes to mind. It lets you avoid the feeling of failure when things get crazier than expected.

It lets you respect yourself, your needs, and handle the crazy shit coming your way. Because being able to function in the insanity and imperfection is 100x more badass than freezing and only moving when the timing is perfect.